Saturday, January 28, 2006

Thunder - Brighton Dome - Friday 27th January

Another half day from work to allow an exploration of the establishments of Brighton. Had a pleasant crawl (in the snow !!) of the Kemptown area - all of which were new pubs for me. Some highly impressive pool playing was shown too. 

First time for me at the Dome - very impressive venue - not so the bar prices - OUTRAGEOUS! Thankfully after the afternoon, we weren't too thirsty! 

We skipped the option of the first support - seen them when they were "Hurricane Party" - not bad, but not really my thing. Toby Jepson was good, with a set full of Little Angels material. Only annoyance was his guitarist. The word "tosser" springs to mind. How can someone fancy himself so much? The girls around us were in 2 camps - either laughing / fake vomiting or feeling very uncomfortable with his posturing and leering at them. Top tip - keep your shirt on and play the music! Oh, actually there was another annoyance. The 2 guys who thought it was acceptable to mosh into everyone around them for "Too Much Too Young" and knock half the crowd over (it wasn't as if there wasn't plenty of room).

Anyway, once another guy and I had errr.. educated them on their behaviour they calmed down a bit. Suffice to say, security were useless. Next up Thunder. On paper, a decent set. In reality, something missing for me. I've seen Thunder a lot of times and they are always good. There was just something tonight that meant it was OK, but not great - couldn't put my finger on it why. Still - An Englishman On Holiday is always one of my favourites. The last train to Croydon from Brighton (23.05) meant we have to leave "Dirty Love" mid-way through. 45 minutes in Croydon waiting for a connection meant a total journey home of nearly 3 hours - no fun!

Setlist
Loser
Amy's on the Run
Higher Ground
I'm Dreaming Again
You Can't Keep a Good Man Down
Like a Satellite
Ball and Chain
Empty City
Just Another Suicide (You Wanna Know)
Love Walked In
Fade Into the Sun
I Love You More Than Rock 'n' Roll
+
An Englishman on Holiday
A Better Man
Dirty Love

Toby Jepson Setlist
Breakdown
Kicking Up Dust
Boneyard
Forbidden Fruit
Don't Pray for Me
Unwind
Young Gods (Stand Up, Stand Up)
Radical Your Lover
Too Much Too Young

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Deep Purple - Astoria - Tuesday 17th January

My first live viewing of Deep Purple. Got in early for a change and witnessed that great rarity - a half decent support band. Called "The Answer", they may actually have a future ahead of them, with some Plant-esq vocals and a hint of AC/DC in the sound. A couple of catchy songs too - new EP out soon apparently.

I was quite impressed by Deep Purple. However, a lot of the regular fans seemed upset at the amount of "new album" material and there was a fair bit of heckling. It probably didn't help that Ian Gillan clearly didn't know the words for the first few songs! One of the things that is always a bit of an issue is the set mix for new and old fans. The regulars are probably sick of the "hits" churned out year after year, but as a "newbie", I was delighted to hear Highway Star, Smoke On The Water and Black Night. Indeed, I'd have been happier too if they'd done Woman From Tokyo and Strange Kind of Woman, whereas for someone like Status Quo for example, I'd happily miss out some big hits, for some more "hardcore" classics. 

Anyway, I was impressed by the musicianship of Deep Purple - especially Steve Morse. A couple of Amstels in the Tottenham (previously Soho's worst/smokiest pub?) rounded off a nice evening.

Setlist
Pictures of Home
Things I Never Said
Wrong Man
Vavoom: Ted the Mechanic
Living Wreck
Rapture of the Deep
Back to Back
Before Time Began
Contact Lost
Guitar Solo [Steve Morse]
The Well-Dressed Guitar
Lazy
Keyboard Solo
Perfect Strangers
Junkyard Blues
Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
Space Truckin'
Highway Star
Smoke on the Water
+
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Black Night / Bass Solo